Tips for Planning Salesforce Data Backup and Restore

Salesforce data backup and restoration are essential aspects of a complete data security strategy. You can’t completely guard against data loss events. Human error is a major cause of these events and is impossible to eradicate. Other factors such as cybercriminals, hardware failure, and even natural disasters can result in losing access to essential system data.

Ideas for Salesforce Data Backup and Restore

1. Establish a Recovery Point Objective

The main goal of a Salesforce data backup and restore strategy is to get your system back online after a data loss event. However, that goal doesn’t look the same for everybody. Setting a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) helps identify your specific needs and goals from this effort. RPO refers to the maximum period of data your company is willing to lose in the event of a data disaster. A shorter RPO means your backups will have to occur more often, which in turn necessitates more storage capacity. On the other hand, a longer RPO is more affordable because of the diminished need for storage but will result in losing more data when it comes time to recovery and restore after a data loss event.

2. Define a Recovery Time Objective

Another consideration when planning how to configure your data backup settings relates to how important it is for your company to be able to quickly return to operations. A Recovery Time Objective (RTO) relates to how fast you can recover from the moment a data disaster occurs to the moment your company is able to return to normal operations. A shorter RTO means you are able to get your system operational in a short amount of time, which will save money from a minimization of downtime. However, this requires a higher degree of attention and retention so it will cost more to keep it up.

3. Select a Type of Backup

The needs of every company are not going to be the same when it comes to Salesforce data backup and restore strategies. And just how your needs aren’t all the same, the options for how you backup your data will vary. Choosing the right type of data backup will keep your storage needs at a manageable level while providing proper coverage.

There are four types of backups to choose from:

• Full Backup: Entirety of data and metadata
• Incremental Backup: Select incremental changes since previous backup
• Normal Backup: Selected data objects as defined in backup configuration
• Hierarchical Backup: All relationships corresponding to the selected data objects and associate relationships

4. Configure Your Settings

Specifications can be made within your data backup and restore tools to further customize your coverage and storage needs. This can be performed within Salesforce itself or within your tool, depending on the provider you choose.

Properly configured settings will stipulate which data sets are essential to cover so you aren’t left with outdated important information. Select the desired set of data and metadata that you need to be backed up. This might not include your entire Salesforce data repository. However, you should be aware of government regulations regarding the types of data that should be covered.

The retention period for the backed up data should also be set. A long retention period means you will need to store a growing amount of information. A short retention period means data might be deleted when you still need it. Configure these to your needs.

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